Sarcoid heart disease: clinical course and treatment

Sarcoidosis is a rare granulomatous disease of unknown etiology that can affect any organ. Cardiac involvement, although uncommon, has a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and is potentially fatal. Although there is no agreement upon a strategy for the diagnosis (which is difficult to make based on clinical information alone), the introduction of newer technology is promising and may be useful hot 1 for the early diagnosis of cardiac involvement and for the evaluation of response to therapy. Early treatment is crucial in improving symptoms and prognosis. ICD implantation and cardiac transplantation may offer improvements is in management, as steroid therapy and pacemaker implantation has led to improved outcomes over the past three decades. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.